COKE-DAVIS CONTROVERSY

COKE-DAVIS CONTROVERSY. In the election of December 1873 Richard Coke received 100,415 votes for governor against 52,141 for Edmund J. Davis. The election had been characterized by fraud and intimidation on both sides. Davis, the incumbent, proclaimed that he had a right to finish out his four-year term, and the "Semicolon Court," in the case Ex parte Rodriguez, held that the election was illegal. Disregarding the court ruling, the Democrats secured the keys to the second floor of the Capitol and took possession. Davis was reported to have state troops stationed on the lower floor. The Travis Rifles (seeTRAVIS GUARDS AND RIFLES), summoned to protect Davis, were converted into a sheriff's posse and protected Coke. On January 15, 1874, Coke was inaugurated as governor. On January 16 Davis arranged for a truce, but he made one final appeal for federal intervention. A telegram from President Ulysses S. Grant said that he did not feel warranted in sending federal troops to keep Davis in office. Davis resigned his office on January 19. Coke's inauguration restored Democrat control in Texas.

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